Papua New Guinea, 1990 — military coup attempt

Event Summary

The dataset records an event coded as an attempted military coupi in Papua New Guinea on 14 March 1990 against the government of Prime Minister Rabbie Namaliu, during the acute crisis over the secessionist rebellion on the island of Bougainville. By early 1990 the Papua New Guinea Defence Force had become deeply frustrated by the government's handling of the Bougainville conflict, where the Bougainville Revolutionary Army had fought the security forces to a standstill and forced a humiliating withdrawal of government troops from the island in March 1990. This period of military discontent, resentment over conditions, pay, and the perceived mismanagement of the Bougainville campaign, produced unrest and reported plotting within the defence force against the civilian government.

A coup attempt or threat in March 1990 arose within that atmosphere and did not topple the government. Namaliu's administration weathered the crisis, though the Bougainville war would drag on for years as one of the Pacific's deadliest conflicts, and Papua New Guinea's democratic institutions, despite recurring tensions between the civilian government and the security forces, survived the strain.